Against All Odds
by Anime-Girl-78
Summary: Green's training with Chuck, and Blue decides to tag along. Meanwhile, Silver decides to follow Blue. The story that reveals their childhood, these three trainers come to respect and accept one another, against all odds.
1. Fighting Fearow

Chapter One

"Hey, wait up!" Her annoying voice rang through the mountains as she ran to catch up with me, echoing dully. "Grr, listen to me, Green-san!"

"Go away," I told her for the hundredth time. "You don't have anything but that stupid Jigglypuff and Horsea. You can't expect me to take care of you here." My voice was level, but she must've felt my melancholic aggravation.

You could practically hear her cheeks puff up, just like that baby pokemon of hers. "Jiggly and Horsea are useful. Horsea can scope out large lakes and oceans, and Jiggly can carry you high into the sky. They're far from stupid." Was she trying to make a point? It's like her mouth was moving, but all I heard was "Blah, blah, blah."

I couldn't believe this delinquent had followed me on my way to train with Chuck-sensei. Blue sure was an interesting person… interestingly hard to get rid of. So far on our journey, all she'd been good for was scamming a few hikers for some extra cash. When she wasn't playing the con card, her mouth couldn't stay closed. I swear my ears bled once or twice due to her insistent chattering.

"My Scyther can fly as well. And we're nowhere near any lakes or oceans, so both of your pokemon are virtually useless to me." Leave me alone, I silently chanted, hoping she would get it through her thick head that she wasn't wanted here. "Just go back home to Johto."

Her footsteps stopped, and for a moment I'd thought I'd actually hurt her feelings. I hadn't thought such a thing was possible. Oh well, I told myself, what's done is done.

Five seconds passed as I continued forward, refusing to look back. Blue didn't make a sound.

How unusual.

I glanced back over my shoulder to see that she wasn't, in fact, paralyzed by anguish at my words, but by fear of the Fearow passing overhead. What the Hell? Why didn't she battle it like she'd battled all of the other pokemon in her path?

Oh, it clicked, as her face paled. She's got a fear of birds. Wonderful.

"Blue," I tested how big of a phobia she had by calling out her name. "Hey, Blue, it's more scared of you." A lie, but I didn't feel like having to save her at the moment. "Just battle it."

Her head turned away from the Fearow and looked over to me. "Not if it can sense fear, you dummy." She crossed her arms and tried, unsuccessfully, to appear tough. Huh, so she admitted to being afraid. But why couldn't she conquer her fear?

The pokemon seemed to notice her hesitation, as well. I'd seen that look on a Fearow's face before- it had taken her body language as the sign of a challenge.

This day was going smoothly.

Ten. Fearow swooped down to attack Blue.

Nine. I grabbed for my Scyther.

Eight. I released Scyther.

Seven. Fearow reached Blue. She screamed.

Six. "Scyther, use slash!" I shouted.

Five: Scyther quickly and easily tore Fearow's left wing.

Four. Fearow cried out in pain and turned on me, forgetting Blue.

Three. Blue looked amazed. I smirked. "Again, Scyther!"

Two. Scyther slashed at its other wing.

One. I reached for a pokeball.

Zero. I threw the pokeball at the enraged and severely injured Fearow.

The pokeball opened up and trapped the wild pokemon inside of it. Shake, shake, shake. Ding. Fearow had been caught.

"Good job, Scyther." I nodded to it and held out its pokeball. "Return." The small red flash of light brought it back to me. It looked pleased with itself.

I picked up Fearow's pokeball and placed it on my belt next to Scyther. "Apparently this pokemon will be useful for your training. I might as well keep it if you're going to be tagging along." I looked to Blue, checking to see if she was harmed. A few minor claw marks, nothing serious. "Or better yet, you keep it. Train a bird pokemon and you won't freeze up like that anymore."

She scowled, looking peeved that I'd saved her. Didn't she even have the courtesy to thank me? What a pest. I silently gestured to the pokeball in response to her sullen look.

A look of conflict crossed her face, and then she snatched the Fearow from my belt. "I didn't freeze up, I stalled. There's a difference."

"Fine, whatever. Then next time you won't _stall_." A sneer crossed my face. "If you're going to train with Chuck-sensei, neither is approved by him. Get that in your head, Blue." A half a week had passed since this girl had started sticking to me, and I was sick of her company. I came to the mountains to be alone with my pokémon and my teacher, not with some bratty little girl who couldn't pull her own weight.

She blinked, then smiled innocently. That was never a good sign. "So, in conclusion, I'm allowed to come?" My eye twitched.

I sighed. "If you come, it's not my choice. You've followed me this long; I give up." Although, not really. I was still going to try and lose her. I'd just have to be slyer in the way I did it. And I had to make sure she fell for my tricks, not the other way around.

She beamed in mock excitement. I could tell when someone was faking an emotion. "Oh, yay! You're not going to regret this. Green-kun!" She'd started referring to me as her friend? I already regretted my decision.

"Stop sucking up to me and let's get going." I turned away from her and continued for the canyon in the mountains where Chuck-sensei was waiting. Impatiently, no doubt. That man was always jittery. To think he had the gull to lecture me on my 'improper' training methods when he couldn't even sit still. It irked me. But I respected him and his teaching, at the very least. He was a top-notch gym leader, somebody worthy of training me so that I could never lose.

…

Blue didn't deserve to be trained by him. She would only upset him with her troublesome ways and then he'd lose his temper and I wouldn't be allowed to learn anything from him. If that happened, all of the negotiations my grandfather and I had made would be for nothing. I would have to suffer through those pitiful looks of his again, when he begged, 'But _I_ could train you! Give this old man a chance!'

He didn't understand that I was aiming for more than becoming a mere trainer.

"Green-kun? _Green-kun_?" Blue, irritatingly, interrupted my thoughts. "I hate to bother you, _really_," she teased, "but isn't this the place?" She motioned towards the valley below us. In the far distance I could make out my teacher's silhouette.

I didn't acknowledge her, only rolled my eyes and jumped down the ledges towards the bottom of the wide pit. I could navigate my way around the area with my eyes closed now, I'd been there so many times. It was almost as much a home to me as Pallet Town was. I heard Blue's unsure footsteps behind mine. Unlike my first time, however, she wasn't clumsy in her movements.

Had she had previous training?

I didn't have time to question it. Chuck-sensei had spotted me, and his Hitmonlee jumped up to meet us. I gave it a slight nod and swiftly turned on it with a roundhouse kick. He blocked my attack and countered with a high-kick, which I dodged with a roll just in time. After a few minutes I held my hand up in defeat and, exhausted, sat down against the edge of the rock wall. No words were needed- we'd said hello in combat.

"Bwahaha!" I heard a voice to my right chuckle. "I see you've been practicing back home, Green. That's the longest you've ever held out against my Hitmonlee!" My teacher didn't give praise lightly. I was proud of my improvement. A faint smile crossed my face for a moment before disappearing.

"Hey, do I get to battle?" Blue questioned curiously. Chuck-sensei turned his attention to her, raising an eyebrow skeptically. His eyes flashed to meet mine for confirmation that, no, I hadn't invited her.

He stroked his mustache in thought. "Hrm. And who might you be, little lady?"

"Blue, at your service, sir!" Her brown hair bobbed up as she bowed her head in greeting. "I'm here because I overheard Green-kun talking about you, and I was wondering if maybe you'd train me? It would be much appreciated!" Her politeness factor was overkill. My teacher would never buy her fake sweetness.

"Oh, so I have another pupil, do I? If you can prove your worth, that is," his eyes lit up with fighting spirit. "So, Blue-chan, what tricks might you have up your sleeve?"

She grabbed all three of her pokéballs and called them out. "Horsea, Jiggly, Feary!" They were released and entered the canyon with fighting poses. Horsea and Jigglypuff's attempts at toughness were laughable, and Fearow looked too beat up to seem threatening. Pft.

"Mm… Your pokémon look incredibly weak. Is that a strategy of yours?" Chuck-sensei seemed amused. "Or are they worn out from the journey?"

"Kind of both," she answered. "Jiggly and Horsea are a lot stronger than they look, and Feary's worn out from when Green-kun assaulted it. In fact, do you have a super potion it could have? Those cuts look deep, the poor thing!"

The Fearow glared at me. Great, it held a grudge. I could take it down again if necessary, of course, but its anger towards me seemed unneeded. And what did Blue mean, poor thing? If it hadn't been for me, she'd be dinner by now. Disrespectful, ungrateful girl.

I spoke my thoughts. "If your pokémon are so strong, how come you didn't fight it when it attacked you? You were scared stiff." I sounded overly cynical to get my point across. She tilted her head like I'd said something utterly idiotic.

"I could've fought it, but your Scyther was big enough so that it wouldn't get caught in Feary's claws, and I got a pokémon without having to lift a finger because of your brave efforts. Besides, Feary doesn't hold a grudge against _me_; why should I be frightened of it?

It was all an act.

Wait a second. That couldn't be it. Nobody could act out that kind of fear unless it was at least partly real. She was just good at hiding it.

So, she was more tactical than she appeared.

"Hrm!" My teacher gave a deep belly-laugh. "Smart girl, getting boys to do things for you! But you'll have to learn to train yourself if you learn under me, not to train others." He motioned for his Machoke, who had been lying against a boulder for a break, and it walked over to Blue's Jigglypuff. They stared at one another for a few seconds, testing each other's courage.

Oh, no.

Blue's cerulean eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "Jiggly didn't blink once! I passed, right?"

Chuck-sensei's mustache twitched upwards in a grin. "I suppose you have, Blue-chan. I like your anticipation. If you think you're up for it, I'd be more than happy to have you join Green and I in training. Welcome aboard!"

He _welcomed_ her? Not the slightest bit of angry shouting? No. This wasn't happening.

Scyther shook in his pokeball as if expecting a fight to occur.


	2. Unexpected Uproar

Chapter Two

I'm not usually one to stuff myself, but when you have to hunt and cook your own food after a long day of combat practice, proper etiquette doesn't apply.

I knew I wouldn't eat again until the next night, anyway, so I was free to have as much as I pleased. That's how it was with Chuck-sensei- food dulled your senses in battle. He allowed three water breaks a day, and that day lasted from five to five. And that entire time I was suffering as much as my Scyther was.

My- our- teacher had healed Blue's Fearow. He'd told her that she could only train with one pokemon a day, and because her Horsea and Jigglypuff were already so close to her that she should start with the bird. She'd nodded and said nothing more about it.

It takes determination not to argue when you're so afraid of the thing you're supposed to trust, I figured. Determination, or stupidity. With Blue, I was leaning more towards the former. Not that I cared, but whatever she had come here for was probably important.

You didn't come to train with Chuck-sensei because you were bored. I made a mental note to investigate further, if I had any free time over the next three weeks.

I placed my chopsticks down on my plate and bowed my head in respect. If I didn't do so after every meal, I would be lectured and have to train with one less water break. Chuck-sensei said that it was only right to thank the pokemon for their meat; personally, I thought it was a waste of time to spend a minute thanking something that was long gone.

"It's too quiet." Blue chimed up. "Don't you ever talk during meals, Chuck-san?" Hmph. She didn't even have the decency to address him as a teacher.

Our teacher's Poliwrath blinked, looking confused, and his Primeape scratched its head, baffled. They weren't used to the question. "Bwahaha, Blue-chan," Chuck-sensei smiled gratefully, "You're the first pupil I've had to ask me that! Yes, I usually talk, but most of the kids I train are like Green here- not very talkative."

You're the one who told me that I shouldn't speak if it was going to be critical. And why are you encouraging her?

"So," he continued, "For the most part training is silent. But I'd be more than happy to hold a conversation with you. In fact, if you don't mind me asking, where do you come from?"

Blue finished off her last bite and placed her hands in her lap. "I'm from Johto, same as you. From Goldenrod City, in fact. That's how I made my way over to Kanto, from the magnet train. I'd heard this was where Professor Oak lived, in Pallet Town, so I decided to go there in order to become a better trainer."

She gave no further explanation. Family and friends weren't mentioned. Although her story was true enough- she'd arrived with no warning to my town while I was away on my last training session- grandfather had told me that she appeared to be orphaned. Was she ashamed to tell Chuck? I didn't understand her reasoning for being so vague. Perhaps it had something to do with her upbringing.

Apparently my thoughts were doomed to be interrupted, because for the third time that day something happened that forced me to stop thinking over my suspicions. Our teacher's Hitmontop narrowed its eyes in suspicion as a pebble plopped to the ground beside us. I looked up- had a stray pokemon broken off a part of the rock? Or did we have a visitor?

It was the latter. In fifteen seconds Hitmonlee and Hitmontop had found and captured a boy with long red hair and his Sneasel. They held a pair of night vision goggles and appeared as if they had been spying on us. They quickly got rope out of our teacher's bag and tied him up.

I stole a glance at Blue. Funny, she seemed to know the kid. Typical that it wasn't mere coincidence. What a pain.

Blue seemed unfazed by his appearance, aside from a small twitch of worry that I happened to notice. She waved to the boy enthusiastically. "Oh, Sil-chan! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Cherrygrove City? Where's Snubby?" Her stream of questions received a grunt from him and he muttered inbetween tugging on the ropes, trying to break free.

"I followed you, stupid. And don't you dare call me that, I'm Silver. You just left me in the middle of the night and took my Horsea! Your Snubbull's in my bag… _Would you let me go, mister_?!" He snarled at Chuck. "Is this how you treat children?!" My hand instinctively went for Scyther's pokeball, in case I had to teach this kid a lesson. He was the one who had snuck up on us, not the other way around.

Chuck-sensei shook his head. "I've never seen someone wander these mountains for the fun of it, boy. I had every right to assume you were a villain out to steal pokemon tired from training. It wouldn't be the first time." He grunted and continued to eat his dinner, signaling for his pokemon to untie Silver. Obviously the silver-eyed guy wasn't a threat to him.

"Oh, that, right!" Blue flicked her wrist flippantly. "Well, you weren't going to let me go to Kanto on my own, Sil-chan, but I just had to! Your place is in Johto, you know that. I told you I would be back sooner or later, but you kept denying me. Sorry, but I had to leave!" Her smile was blindingly sweet, and it made me want to barf. I kind of felt bad for this Silver guy.

Hold on a moment. Why wasn't he jumping for joy being free of Blue?

I'd never be able to understand some people. Maybe that was the real reason Blue left without telling him- she seemed like the kind of person who was clingy, but didn't like to be clung to. I made the choice to speak up.

"Your name's Silver?" I crossed my arms. "Well, you found your friend. Now take her and leave." Maybe I would be able to train in peace with my teacher again now that this nuisance had shown up to take Blue away. It was worth a shot.

He finally seemed to notice me, and as he rubbed his wrists he stared at me harshly. What the Hell? Even his Sneasel didn't seem to like me. Like I was out of the loop on something big. "As if." He finally spoke. "Blue came here because she really wanted to. I'll just have to stay here too." He looked away with a small pout.

Blue leaned over and patted his shoulder. "That's just silly! Go back to Cherrygrove, I'll be fine!" She laughed happily.

Chuck-sensei raised an eyebrow and rose from his seat. "Now, Blue-chan, he seems determined. I'll be the one to decide whether he should stay or leave, and I say he can stay." He paused, tapping his chin. "Although, three pupils is a bit much… A-ha! That's it. You will be each other's teachers. Learn how to get along and work together, and by the end of the three weeks I will be your final opponent." He smirked satisfactorily.

What was he thinking? That was a horrible idea. It was supposed to be a one-on-one training camp, not a three-on-one. Why didn't he just send Blue and Silver back? Why was he allowing them to join uninvited? It had been much more difficult for me to prove my worth. It's taken months for Chuck-sensei to approve of me as a pupil. What was so special about these two?

I scowled and quickly stormed off. I needed to walk around for a bit. Alone.

Behind me I heard the red-haired newcomer say, "What's up with him?" My- their- our- teacher responded, "Now, don't mind him. He's full of steam as usual." Blue was silent. A first for her.

I turned a corner in the canyon and slowed my pace to a casual stroll, letting my mind wander as I cooled off and tried to sort out my thoughts. Something was wrong with this picture.

My eyes drooped. I was too tired to think about things.

"Scyther." I opened his pokeball and released him so that he was buzzing above me. "Use rock smash on the wall over there." I commanded my pokemon. "Make a cave of sorts." He obeyed me without question.

I inspected the small opening, large enough to sit in and stretch out. Perfect. "Good job, Scyther." I recalled him without a second thought. He had done what I'd wanted.

The reason I'd asked for a cave was because clouds were gathering. I knew that in ten minutes or so, a light drizzle would start. Chuck-sensei left it up to us to support ourselves out in the wilderness, and there was no way I was going to bunk with Blue or her annoying friend Silver.

Just as I'd propped myself against the rocks, I heard the sound of footsteps. Pit, pat, pit, pat, they grew closer. What now?

Blue peeked her head in through the opening. I kept my eyes shut, hoping she would leave. Of course that didn't work. It never seemed to work with her. "Green-kun, I know your awake." She clicked her tongue impatiently, but I refused to answer her. Childish, yes, but it was better than having to talk to her.

She sighed dramatically. "Fine. I guess I'll just have to come in, now won't I?" She squirmed through and forced me to growl by sitting on my lap. That seriously pushed my buttons. I shoved her off. "Find your own cave, Blue." I hissed.

She poked my cheek gently. "Hey, no sulking about not being teacher's pet. It's either we work together or you're kicked out of this academy of sorts, isn't that right? I had nothing to do with Silver coming here, so there's no reason to shut me out. You're a friend, too."

Friend? When did I become her friend? When I'd saved her from that Fearow? When I'd made the foolish mistake of allowing her to follow me? I wasn't her friend. If anything, she was just another person I aimed to defeat. "… I may have to work with you, but it will only be so that I can become a better trainer. I don't like you, Blue." I looked at her with disdain. "Get your Fearow to make a nest. It's going to rain soon."

I didn't like or trust her, but if she became sick then my practice schedule would be messed up. That was my only reason. She smiled gratefully and left, leaving me to rest.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys! :] Okay, so in case you're unaware, Green and the other two are around ten years old in this story. Chuck's the gym leader of Cianwood, by the way, in case you're not good with names. It was really fun to make this chapter, although it took all day to write. XD I hope you'll keep reading. And unanswered questions will be answered, in time. What's a story without some mystery? The next chapter should be up by Friday at the latest, unless something big comes up. (Don't you just hate school? It stops you from having free time to write! D:)


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